Posts Tagged ‘Switzerland’

The Espace St. Marc, a space for events and spectacles, is located in the winding site of Dranse. Held in between two concrete blocks, the lobby and main hall open up toward a perspective of the valley. From the interior, the windows frame, for our benefit, the contours of the landscape.

The new Prangins kindergarten is conceived as one big house that has been placed on a sloping site. The cruciform structure resulting from the interlocking volumes allow it to have a special relationship with the neighbouring ensemble. The four volumes, which are mutually staggered by a third of each unit’s floor height and interleaved, make the building appear to be smaller and visually less obtrusive.

The Allianz Headquarters is a hybrid-office and the pinnacle of a master planned mixed-use district on the edge of Zürich’s city center. Comprised of a 20-story tower and a 5-story annex, these two components are externally linked by a series of four bridges, and vertically linked by numerous interior voids and staircases; as such, the Allianz Headquarters can be experienced as horizontal and vertical landscape of neighborhoods. Fluidly connected to the city center by a multitude of public transportation options, the building encourages the blossoming of twenty-first century office culture, which demands flexibility in space and its use, via its hyper-hybrid programming that amplifies ‘interiority’.

Our design is an articulated construction meant for the enjoyment of the spaces for many years to come.

From afar the building is a marker in the landscape, it expresses a meaning already suggested by its context. From close up, it is a collection of many things and from within, a world, that changes with the passing of the hours of the day and the days of the year.

Swiss House Rossa represents the constant commitment to build with respect for the places we inhabit and to make every effort in helping our understanding of civilisation. This is an opera that lies on the cusp between art and architecture, a living sculpture. Alongside its primary role in protecting man from the elements, it is an architecture that needs art to complete it.

Designed originally for construction workers of the railroad connecting Montreux to the Rochers-de-Naye, this modest house was built in 1911 with large stone blocks found in the ground dug for the rail. Constructed on a sloping hillside, lined with a terraced garden, it offers a breathtaking view of the Alps, Lake Geneva and the Riviera.

When you think of a call centre you probably picture a line of people seated in row upon row of desks in a featureless back room. But call centres are changing. In many companies, they are now the first point of contact with customers and are increasingly important in growing new business and ensuring customer satisfaction. High tech and fast paced, with multiple contact points from email and messaging systems to video and voice calls, they also require motivated and well-trained staff. As companies recognise their growing importance, the boiler room approach is disappearing and call centres are beginning to morph into a corporate centrepiece.

The urban regeneration and traffic calming project for the new “Spazio Incontro” at Sonvico is part of a wider masterplan for the Dino and Sonvico areas. The underlying concept that informs the general project can be summarized in five points:

Identifying an independent pedestrian route separate from the Cantonal road

Improving and redeveloping the pedestrian route that runs through the entire area

Marking the route with consistent materials so that it is easily legible

Redevelop the public realm and pedestrian routes as tools for mitigating car traffic

Improve, where necessary, the availability of services and urban infrastructure (parking, benches, new public spaces).

In 2013, the political commune of Weinfelden arranged an open architectural competition for a new single building to house the fire brigade and the Samaritan emergency services; their resources had up until then been distributed over various locations. Out of the 58 participants, it was the «Grisu» project by kit that was the winner. The jury praised the project as a cultivated industrial building. It stands out through its architectural precision and the impact it has in enhancing the overall urban impression of the route into Weinfelden. At the same time, the new building superbly fulfils all the functional requirements of the various blue-light organisations.

At the settlements edge of the resort of Lenzerheide in the Swiss Alps a breath taking site reveals outstanding views. The existing structure built in the late forties of the last century does not fit the requirements of the family and a new programme leads its replacement.